Kelmi Cuties

                        HOW TO TRAIN YORKIE EARS TO STAND

There are a lot of different ways to help train young yorkie ears to stand up.  They will usually stand up on their own by approximately 12 weeks of age – each puppy is different!

I have had the best success using Tear Mender Fabric & Leather Repair Adhesive – www.tearmender.com  - as follows:

First, try to picture in your mind a telephone pole-standing tall and straight- and the guywire that holds the pole up.  The guywire is attached a ways down from the top and runs at an angle to the ground to secure the pole.

Second, when reading these instructions remember that you are trying to glue hair to hair and NOT glue hair to skin.  I have not had any skin reactions to Tear Mender but what goes on must come off at some point.  Keep the glue in the hair and you can always cut the hair later.  It also comes off easily with any surgical glue/adhesive remover.

Clip ONLY the longer hair on the tips of the hair and back about ½”-you need the longer hair on the body of the ear to work with.  Fold the ear in half bringing the sides (edges) together and apply a small drop of Tear Mender to the hair hanging off the edge of the ear about half way down the length of the ear.  Press the glue into the hair of both edges to hold it together.  The ear now looks like a little “horn” sticking off the side of the head.

Next put a drop of glue about one third or one half way down in the hair on the fold of the outside of the ear - which is facing the other ear.  Stand the folded ear up to the correct position (remember the telephone pole) and then get a small amount of the longer hair on the top of the head (remember the guywire) and press the hair on the ear and the hair coming from the top of the head together.  You now have the folded ear standing up straight and the hair from the center of the head holding it up in position. 

You can also use this method and skip the first part of folding the ear in half.  Some ears will stand up fine and some will not, some need the extra strength that the fold offers. 

NOTE:  if the ear is folded, you should NOT leave it glued together at the edges longer than 2 or 3 days as you can trap moisture and bacteria in the fold.  Remove the glue, let the ear rest a day and repeat if necessary.  If you can get the ear up without folding it you can leave it up as long as you want.  Some ears will stand in a couple days, some you need to repeat several times until they stand on their own.  Once they show that they are going to stand up, be sure and clip ALL the hair off the outside to at least two thirds of the way down the length of the ear.  The hair is incredibly heavy and by removing it the ear will have a chance to get stronger without the weight of the hair.  By the time the hair grows back the ear will be strong enough to continue to stand up correctly with the weight of the hair.  This method seems to be the least annoying to the puppy that I have tried.

Sound easy enough?  I forgot to tell you that you must do all this while the puppy wiggles at 90 MPH, tries to lick the glue off the back of it’s head and knock over the bottle of Tear Mender and walk in it.  You might want to recruit a friend to help and also go thru the instructions once without glue!  Good luck!